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State Dollars For Water Quality Projects Approved

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 7:42 am

Saint Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), in cooperation with an interagency team that also includes the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, approved more than $14 million in state grants for projects that will protect and restore Minnesota’s streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater.

Funding for the grants includes $2 million from the state’s general fund and $12 million from the Minnesota Clean Water Fund — one of four funds established through the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. Most of the funded projects also leverage local and federal dollars.

“These dollars are targeted for projects that will provide the greatest environmental outcomes,” said John Jaschke, BWSR Executive Director. “Local organizations will now be able to employ conservation practices that have proven to be effective in reducing nonpoint pollution.”

Many of the projects will establish conservation practices to control stormwater runoff in urban and agricultural areas. Others will improve water quality by replacing problem septic systems, upgrading feedlots and by establishing native vegetation along shorelines in environmentally sensitive areas.